Words originally for Outline Magazine
2015 saw Latitude Festival’s tenth anniversary pass in a flash of sunshine and surprise appearances from the likes of Thom Yorke and Ed Sheeran. Twelve months on, the buzz that could be felt last year is notably absent, but the weather is just as delicious and with a three-day plus programme of music and art to dig into, who could complain?
Friday, 15th July
Emmy the Great kicked the weekend off, opening the Obelisk arena with some mesmerising, downbeat folk-pop. “It’s great being first on because you get to make all the cultural references”, she quips, dropping the odd Pokémon gag inbetween her candid lyrics about romance and teenage memories. It’s pure bliss for the Obelisk crowd, already humming with activity under a perfectly clear sky. A trip to the woods – and the Sunrise Arena’s leafy shelter – is needed to escape the heat. There, all sorts of treats can be uncovered, including Norwich’s own Let’s Eat Grandma, who entice and delight an impressive sized audience with their quirkily choreographed set. Rapunzel and Donnie Darko are met with whoops and claps from both long-time fans and undoubtedly some brand new ones, as Rosa and Jenny hop from instrument to instrument, fully in their elements amidst the trees and ferns. A little while later, Canadian rockers Weaves turn the tables completely as they start the first mosh pits of the festival. Jasmyn Burke fronts the group and works the crowd effortlessly, as her band mates churn out a jazzy cacophony that’s irresistible to dance to. Think somewhere between Pixies and tUnE-yArDs.
One of Friday’s must-sees is deadpan Aussie Courtney Barnett, who delivers a tight fifty minutes to the Obelisk masses. It seems like there’s a lot of first-timers all having a good time, but compared to her stomping gig at The Waterfront last April, Barnett and her band look notably tired – a by-product of touring the same record for so long, perhaps. Nonetheless, the dusky Avant Gardener wafts through the air with a fitting zest, an early weekend highlight.
The BBC 6 Music tent is the place to be tonight. Kent duo Slaves pack the place out for a frenzy of sweat and testosterone, dicing up cuts from their phenomenal debut record (2015’s Are You Satisfied) plus a taste of new material; Rich Man sticks in mind with its smirk-worthy hook, “rich man / I’m not your bitch, man”. If there’s one thing Slaves are guaranteed to bring alongside their notoriously primal tunes, it’s a laugh, culminating tonight with a boy named Harvey being brought on stage after drummer Isaac spots him body popping on the front row. Jealous? Me too.
Despite the promise of great things from The Maccabees, who head up the Obelisk bill tonight, it’s Grimes who takes our fancy in the end, in what turns out to be the most mind-blowing performance of the whole weekend. For anyone unfamiliar with Canadian pop queen Claire Boucher, she’s a multi-talented performer and producer with an arsenal of pop hits up her custom Moschino sleeve. Her style is near impossible to pin down, mashing a wide range of influences into a streamlined and theatrical stage persona, which is as much eighties hip-hop icon as it is modern day K-pop superstar. Tonight is her only UK festival appearance besides Glastonbury, and her first performance in our region ever since she burst onto the indie scene in 2012. As dancers open the set to the orchestral intro ‘laughing and not being normal’, a wave of indescribable excitement ripples over the steamy tent. The pounding anthem that is REALiTi launches us into a cascade of smoke and lasers, Boucher bouncing around a platform of keyboards, synths, and sequencers as well as contributing her signature wispy vocal. She’s joined by HANA, fresh from her own set in the DIY Alcove this afternoon, and two dancers, the inconceivably fashionable quartet filling the stage comfortably with spectacular choreography. Go and World Princess, Pt. II pump the energy levels into overdrive, with older material like ‘Oblivion’ and Genesis offering little respite amidst their rumbling basslines. Kill V. Maim calls time on a glamorous and truly astonishing pop show, so glossy and out of place in the Suffolk countryside but so perfectly kicking off Latitude 2016 with a rare opportunity to catch a performance from a legend in the making.
Saturday, 16th July
My first stop on Saturday is to the Sunrise Arena, where Pumarosa enchant with an arty, Joy Division reminiscent performance. You may have seen them support Gengahr at Norwich Arts Centre last year, where they put on a frankly headline-worthy show. The quintet has a mature and concentrated presence, with Isabel Munoz-Newsome’s soaring vocals glistening over the guitars, saxophone and samples that make up each track. Priestess is the track to check out, a seven-minute cascade of spiritualism and spine-tingling instrumental sections that you won’t forget in a hurry.
Saturday, 16th July
My first stop on Saturday is to the Sunrise Arena, where Pumarosa enchant with an arty, Joy Division reminiscent performance. You may have seen them support Gengahr at Norwich Arts Centre last year, where they put on a frankly headline-worthy show. The quintet has a mature and concentrated presence, with Isabel Munoz-Newsome’s soaring vocals glistening over the guitars, saxophone and samples that make up each track. Priestess is the track to check out, a seven-minute cascade of spiritualism and spine-tingling instrumental sections that you won’t forget in a hurry.
A trip to the DIY Alcove (which is more of a marquee than a stage, with a cocktail bar at the back and picnic tables outside) finds WHITE, a Glaswegian troupe who are all set to be your new favourite band. Leo Condie fronts the group, a pastiche of Jarvis Cocker and Brian Ferry in his campy stage antics. And the rest of the band are just as buoyant. Step Up is a chaotic flurry of glam-rock noise and Living Fiction prickles with a dirty, Franz Ferdinand/Kasabian kind of zing.
Heading back to the Sunrise Arena, Teleman look to be a surprise favourite with the Latitude masses. Or, the Latitude dads to be precise. The London quartet fire out hit after hit to a largely unmoved audience of middle aged men, but Tangerine and Dusseldorf go down a treat with this reviewer. It’s a far cry from their headline show at OPEN this April in terms of size and vibe, but represents just how adaptable this alt-pop bunch are. Drones Club follow, with a notably smaller audience but a far more interesting show altogether. Sonically, they make 90s inspired pounding dance tracks, much like Jungle, with a revolving collective of musicians on stage at any one time by the looks of it. But the ‘club’ continues with an entourage of dancers (?) decked out in reflective white body suits, in an almost military display that sees them jumping into the audience and climbing the display towers within the tent. It’s chaotic and intense, the ten plus personnel with the band bringing a unique and unexpected highlight that may be a nightmare for security but is endlessly entertaining for their baying public.
SOPHIE is tonight’s final act, an androgynous and mysterious DJ/producer/collaborator with the likes of Charli XCX and the trendy as fuck PC Music record label. Turning the Sunrise tent from a hippie paradise into a brawling mess of cool kids and glow sticks, his 45-minute set is pure fun from start to finish. Lemonade and Just Like We Never Said Goodbye are synthetic nuggets of plastic pop gold. That they’re just the kind of music you’d want your parents to hate to make it seem even cooler. Every track weaves neatly into the next, hisses and clangs from SOPHIE’s intricate set-up achieving the reception you’d expect from a band rather than a DJ, with mosh pits and shoulder surfers cropping up throughout. The end comes too soon, thoroughly putting to bed the question ‘can DJs headline festivals?’ with a big fat yes.
Sunday, 17th July
The Lake Stage at Latitude Festival will go down in history as one of the first stops in some iconic bands’ ascents to fame. Counting The 1975, Clean Bandit, Alt-J and more among its alumni, the Huw Stephens-curated line-up is a haven for discovering the best of the brightest new talents from across the country. It seemed only right to check out a few of its new faces on this year’s Sunday afternoon.
First stop: South London’s PIXX, a dark delight under the baking sun. Almost channelling Ziggy Stardust in her green eye makeup and pink hair, her gloomy pop numbers are mechanical and eerie, like an out of tune music box, but in a way that’s more intriguing than off-putting. Her set is plagued with technical issues throughout but the 19 year old, real name Hannah Rodgers, breezes through with a distinct confidence. She’s opened on tour for Daughter and LUSH, so if you’re a fan of theirs, chances are PIXX will be up your street too.
Every time I see Declan McKenna his show is miles better than last time; after hitting up Norwich Arts Centre with Blossoms last year and for a solo stint this spring, he’s on my must-see list, and he doesn’t disappoint. Backed by a full band (versus the solo set up he had with Blossoms) the London singer/songwriter wraps lyrics about political and social satire in a chirpy, indie-pop guise. Oh, and he’s just 17. The delivery is a little off in places – lyrics are forgotten and for the majority of BethlehemMcKenna seems to wander about the stage like a lost puppy – but the crowd lap the show up eagerly. A guitar jam from the pit in front of the audience goes down a particular treat.
Oscar looks a bit like Declan McKenna might in about eight years time. Donning a Disney themed outfit (complete with Snow White kimono – hashtag need) he dad dances his way through a set chock full of summery anthems. He’s on fifteen minutes late and mic problems crop up repeatedly, but the atmosphere couldn’t be more positive. When Feel It Too becomes an instrumental for a minute, the crowd fill in where Oscar can’t. Sometimes seals the deal with a fizzy percussion-led clap along, complete with accompanying mosh-pit under the hazy sunset.
An injection of Liverpudlian energy drives the night into full swing, in the form of a headline set from Clean Cut Kid. This foursome has toured with Shura and Circa Waves but sit at the top of the Lake Stage bill in their own right this evening. There’s something for everyone here; Runaway and Pick Me Up are bouncy indie classics in the making, Brother of Mine has a classic rock streak that kicks some serious ass and Evelyn – a tribute to frontman Mike Hall’s wife (and the band’s keyboardist, as it happens) stirs a perfect romantic lyricism into the mix. A proggy cover of Jamie xx’s Loud Places is also tucked in neatly for any newcomers to the group. With an EP out in a fortnight and a headline tour slated for the end of the year, now’s a perfect time to hop on the CCK bandwagon.
Closing the festival come the one and only New Order, undeniable legends of British rock music, and all that. They draw a varied crowd – original Joy Division fans are here, plus millennials who share the same love of Ian et al. This is a moment many have been waiting for, myself included, and expectations are high. Are they met? Depends who you ask. Older members present look like they’re having a good time, grooving along to classic material like Your Silent Face as well as newer cuts from 2015’s Music Complete. But the latter, as tropical and punchy as it may be on record, comes across slow and dismal in an arena that also appears notably quieter than the past two nights. And yes, I know what you want to say – “that’s how they do it in Manchester” or “they’re getting on a bit, what do you expect?” Maybe a little showmanship and bravado from such an iconic act, which tonight just doesn’t come. But hats off to whoever designed the big-screen visual effects that keep the show afloat.
I’m bored. Of Monsters and Men are on in the 6 Music tent. They do Little Talks with confetti canons. It’s brilliant, and probably better than Blue Monday was. That’s what I keep telling myself, at least. In the Obelisk, Love Will Tear Us Apart brings the weekend to its conclusion in one of those unforgettable musical moments. Ian Curtis’ huge face looms over the Suffolk countryside and despite being slightly eerie, everything makes for a truly heartwarming moment.
Nice one, Latitude, for bringing us the most magical of weekends. We’ll see you next year.
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